KFC kicks out APP, more ESG transparency for Hong Kong listings, buildings getting greener, stormy weather and the EU’s revised biofuel targets
KFC UK drops APP
KFC UK has announced new sustainability standards for its packaging, with a commitment that 100% will come from certified sustainable sources. This policy will exclude suppliers such as the beleaguered Asia Pulp and Paper, which has been the subject of continual NGO campaigning for its use of tropical hardwoods and destruction of native forest habitat.
Bid for transparency
The Hong Kong stock exchange, Asia’s third largest, has published guidelines on reporting by listed companies of environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance indicators. Companies should disclose information on emissions and resource use, what they do to promote environmental protection, their operating practices, anti-corruption measures and community involvement, the stock exchange said. Hong Kong is likely to move to a mandatory ESG reporting regime, to take effect in 2015, in which companies must disclose information or explain why they are not doing so. The Hong Kong move follows similar initiatives in countries such as Brazil and South Africa.
Less praise for doing more
Companies are becoming more sustainable – but are not getting credit for it, according to the 2012 Sustainability Leadership Report, published by consultants Brandlogic and investment researchers CRD Analytics. The study of 100 global brands, which generate 16% of world output, finds that 93 were doing better on sustainability in 2012 compared with 2011. The report identifies companies including GE, IBM, Intel and Microsoft as leaders that have moved sustainability closer to the core of their operations. However, as the corporations have got greener, cynicism about their commitment to sustainability has increased. “More companies are getting less credit for their sustainability efforts and it would appear that [perception survey] respondents have become tougher critics on an issue seen as more important than ever,” the report concludes. The 2012 Sustainability Leadership Report is available here.
Concept clothing
Sporting goods giant Puma has started to draw lessons from its environmental profit and loss (EP&L) account, producing new types of biodegradeable and recyclable footwear and clothing for its spring/summer 2013 range. The 2013 range will include trainers, backpacks, shirts and jackets made from “clever raw materials” such as biodegradable polymers, recycled polyester and organic cotton. Puma will take back the products at the end of their useful lives, and ensure that they are disposed of correctly.
Getting real
Major property developments such as offices, hotels and apartment blocks are becoming progressively more sustainable, according to the latest Greenprint Performance Report, which tracks a portfolio of more than 1,600 international property assets. Between 2010 and 2011, energy use across the portfolio was down 4.4%, emissions down 8.2%, water use down 3.1%, and renewable energy use up 10.8%. The emissions savings alone were equivalent to planting 11.6m trees, Greenprint calculated. Greenprint Foundation members include property developers and managers such as British Land, Canary Wharf Group, Grosvenor and Transport for London. Their stated goal is to reduce building-related emissions by 50% by 2030 relative to 2009. More information is available here
Storm warning
Climate change might have barely been mentioned during the US presidential election campaign, but it is North America that is being hit hardest by the increase in extreme weather events – most recently, of course, from hurricane Sandy. Analysis by reinsurance giant Munich Re has found that between 1980 and 2011, the number of weather-related catastrophes increased fivefold in North America. In Asia, the increase was fourfold, and in Europe the incidence doubled. North America incurred more than 30,000 deaths and $1tn in losses over the period, from storms, floods and droughts. Munich Re’s Peter Röder says that climate change risks had not yet been automatically reflected in insurance premiums. For a “sustainable model of insurance … we should prepare for the weather risk changes that lie ahead, and nowhere more so than in North America”.
Green light for green bank
Britain’s Green Investment Bank (GIB) will open its doors at the end of November, the UK government says, after the European commission confirmed in mid-October that the GIB would not distort competition in the European Union or crowd out private investment. The bank will have start-up funding of £3bn for projects including offshore wind, recycling, and energy from waste, carbon capture and storage and marine energy. Bank chairman Lord Smith of Kelvin welcomed the green light from Brussels, adding: “We clearly have challenges ahead but we have the people, the expertise and the capability to deliver on our priorities and create the foundation for a new climate of green investment.” The commission said it would review the approval after four years to make sure the bank was not providing unjustified subsidies.
Chinese whispers
Chinese non-governmental groups have criticised western brands operating in their country for being weak on managing the environmental impacts of their supply chains. A report by the groups, headed by China’s Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, says that Disney, Marks & Spencer and Tommy Hilfiger, among others, are using dyeing and finishing companies that make little effort to moderate their water or energy use, or to cut pollution discharges. Marks & Spencer says the report is inaccurate, but that it has started a “thorough investigation” of its Chinese dyehouses. Other companies, including Adidas, H&M and Nike, were given credit for screening suppliers and making honest efforts to improve supply-chain sustainability.
Biofuel U-turn
Meanwhile, the European commission has performed a volte-face on biofuels in the wake of complaints and several studies that showed its policy to promote ethanol and biodiesel would just put up food prices in an already hungry world. In 2009, the EU agreed that crops should contribute as much as 10% of the fuel going into vehicles by 2020, but under the revised policy the target will be halved. The change of direction pleases nobody. Greenpeace says even the lower target would encourage clearance of virgin forest for plantations, while the industry says the cut “would destroy the biofuels industries and related sectors such as crushing and sugar facilities”. According to Greenpeace, about 40% of US maize production now goes into biofuel.